1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a jet propelled watercraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,611 discloses a personal watercraft that includes an engine, a jet pump driven by the engine, a reverse gate, an electric motor (shift actuator) arranged to move the reverse gate, and three limit switches arranged to detect a shift position of the reverse gate. The electric motor that is the shift actuator moves the reverse gate to a forward drive position, a neutral position, and a reverse drive position. With this personal watercraft, a rotational speed of the engine is restricted when the reverse gate is at a position other than the forward drive position.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-80041 discloses a jet propelled watercraft that includes an engine, a jet pump driven by the engine, a reverse gate, a reverse gate moving mechanism arranged to move the reverse gate, a shift member (reverse gate operator) arranged to operate the reverse gate, and an ECU (electronic controller). The reverse gate moving mechanism moves the reverse gate between a forward drive position and a reverse drive position. The reverse gate moving mechanism includes an electric motor and a transmission mechanism arranged to transmit the motive power of the electric motor to the reverse gate. The reverse gate operator is not mechanically coupled to the reverse gate. The ECU controls the reverse gate moving mechanism (electric motor) in accordance with operation of the reverse gate operator to move the reverse gate. This jet propelled watercraft includes a function (forward drive position retracting function) by which the reverse gate is retracted to the forward drive position to enable forward drive movement when the reverse gate moving mechanism malfunctions.